Random...Very Random

 

Thursday was my birthday and it was a very nice day which included a 5 mile walk, a trip to a new coffee shop/restaurant downtown, beautiful flowers from Rich, a surprise at Girls Inc, birthday wishes from lots of wonderful people, and a piece of Lemon Italian Creme cake...all-in-all a grand day and actually none of it was planned out, things just fell into place.  I think that this must be one of the beauties of hitting 50...which I did...three years back. Just waking up and finding joy in the day...



Friday was a very busy day.  I went to yoga first thing in the morning.
This class is good...and difficult.  It is totally different than the yoga class I love on Monday and Wednesday nights.  This class pushes me and has me at times looking at the instructor to see if she is actually doing the stuff she is instructing us to do...for example:

                             Oh...okay...this one I totally get...:)

                          And this one...side body long...I get it!

Now THIS one, seriously...I couldn't get my feet off the ground for more than 2 seconds...not enough core strength and no upper body strength...so I will make this my mission...to be able to do this pose...so that I can!

BUT...if you EVER see me doing this...call the paramedics...cause I will not be coming out of this position on my own...just saying...

    Now this looks awesome to me...maybe in October :)


Okay, so after yoga kicked my butt, I went to Parthenon to look at fabric for the library at Girls Inc. and this is what I came up with...

 

The walls are going to be the color on the paint stick (lovely paint that they already have)  The built in shelves are this shade of blue...this fabric I love almost perfectly matches the color of the paint...hmmm

 

 

I do love red....and the little bit of blue is a perfect match....hmmm

 

 

I also like this blue and taupe diamond fabric....hmmm

 

 

Any thoughts...?

 

And last, the mailman knocked on my door to deliver my mail.  He is so sweet and typically does this if there is any kind of package in the mail, even if it fits in the mailbox. So, yes, I got books for the library and this one I might just have to sit down and read over the weekend...along with all the usual weekend fun!!

 

 

Have a great weekend...whatever it brings your way!

 

Books, Books, and Yes, More Books

It's been a busy "book" week...

I have joined an online classical book club hosted by Edie from http://www.lifeingraceblog.com/ (if you have never read Edie's blog, grab a cup of coffee, pull up a chair, and prepare for an inspiring read)!

This is our book for the month of September...

 

...I am admittedly a bit intimidated even though I taught

The Iliad to eighth graders back in the day.

 

To get my mind geared up for serious reading I have been working through

The Well-Educated Mind by Susan Wise Bauer. I highly recommend this book if you want to take yourself back to those days in college when you read this stuff with one eye closed and thoughts of everything "college" was running through your mind (that's not what I meant to say and not that I did that...Chelsea and Katelyn and any other college-aged reader of this blog). 

 

Last night I started the new bible study at my friend, Bobbie's, church.

 

 

If you have never done a Priscilla Shirer study you are missing out on a beautiful and authentic voice encouraging women to move from knowing God to experiencing our living God!  Amazing stuff!!

 

It is September, and I am heading back to Girls Inc. for a school year book club that starts with the building of the in-house library!!  I am really excited to get back with the girls on Wednesday afternoons.  I love to read and value the benefits of a book-filled life.  I have been collecting books this summer and have a long list of books to be ordered...and my mind is whirling with ideas...and more ideas (I have a notion Chelsea is a bit relieved to be off at pharmacy school and not trying to keep up with me...as if ;)

 

While looking through books here at the house I came across this little gem by Eric Carle. 

 

 

I opened the book to find my grandmother's beautiful handwriting... sending Chelsea a birthday message.

 

 

So, my thoughts on this, give a book as a gift to someone you love and

remember to open the cover of the book and write a personal message.  Sixteen years later it will still bring a smile to the heart :)

 

Book Club with an AWESOME group of girls!

I am back in town sooner than I planned as Tropical Storm Debby is trying hard to be a downer today! So I packed up Gabby this morning when Rich left for work and headed back across the bridge!!  I have lots to do here and the girls will be flying in this evening if the weather holds (please hold).  Now might be a good time to post before my week gets away from me!  There is so much going on around here and it's all about choices...so for today I have decided to talk about the book club at Girls Inc.

Last Wednesday was our second week of book club.  After the whirl wind day of making journals with all of the girls week one, Chelsea and I were looking forward to giving out books to the girls and getting to know them.

We started each group time with a little game I call around the world...we passed the globe around the group and the girls talked about themselves. Oh yea, the girls love Chelsea...of course and she has a little shadow in each of the younger groups :)

One group of 4th graders wanted me to read aloud with them to get them

started in Pippi Longstocking...so Chelsea manned the group that wanted to silent read

Another group is reading the book about the mysterious Thorne Rooms in the

Chicago Art Institute...notice the doll house in the background...donated last week, we are

thinking about it being a part of our summer fun!  Anyone have some interesting doll house furniture they would like to donate???

This week we will give the first, second, and third graders their books...which include picture books and Magic Tree House books!  We will also be creating Venetian masks with the middle school girls who are reading the Thief Lord and secret key necklaces with 5th graders who are reading

 The Sixty-Eight Rooms.

It is amazing to me that what started as a way for me to get directly involved with an organization I believe in and have supported over the years has quickly turned into a weekly life lesson for me and I think Chelsea too!  It is good for the heart and the soul :)  Oh, and if you are wondering what happened to Kate in all of this...she got a job at Sharky's on the beach and works all the time (except on weekends when she is traveling about with her sister :)

My Summer Adventure at Girls Inc.

Today I set up for the summer book club that I will be leading at our local Girls Inc.   The theme for the summer camp (which starts next Monday) is... "not a vacation from learning, but a vacation of learning."  The 200 girls will be "traveling" around the world in order to learn about different cultures.

Our book club will take the girls to Mexico, Italy, China, Australia, France, and Chicago!  The girls will make journals, kites, sock puppets, key necklaces, and bake cookies! 

One of the decorations for my "classroom"
(which is actually the stage in the community room) is the banner I made using an old atlas...

I am soooo excited about this opportunity to hopefully pass along my love for books and writing and fun to a group of awesome girls who will surely pass a few things along to me!! Pray for us all (including Chelsea and Kate...my two assistants) as we start our adventure!!  And if by chance you are in town and want to help with making sock puppets or kites...let me know :)

A Book Can Take You Around the World!

Last week I left you with this little teaser...

It didn't dawn on me that anyone would think I was planning a world-wide trip  until Katelyn said "I am not hearing about something big on the blog am I"??

No Way...there is too much going on in the life of our family to fit that in!!

This is a trip of sorts, but much closer to home!!  So, first, a little background...
I have been "retired" from teaching for 5 years now (that is so hard for me to believe)!! I knew that I would not go back to full time teaching once I left because, while it was so rewarding and a calling, it was a never-ending-take-the-work- home-with-you career.  I was so organized while I worked that I don't think I exhaled during the school year...no, I am serious! About a year into my "retirement" I commented to Rich "How did I do all of this while working?"  to which he answered "You didn't do all of this"  :(  Okay, my family never really suffered except the part about me teaching at the school Kate and Chelsea attended. But enough history, spring forward to now...Now I am ready to do something.  After a year of reflection and prayer it became crystal clear.  Do what I love!  Isn't that the reason for the God-given gifts...to use them to help others, glorify Him, and get outside of myself???!!! 

My favorite part of teaching was the literature unit (what...they don't those anymore???)  I love books and loved exposing the kids to all of the possibilities that reading can inspire!  Soooo, I went to our local Girls Inc and talked with them about my idea of creating a library for them on site and volunteering one day a week year round to host book clubs for all of the different age groups.   I am leaving out lots of details here but let's just say that God went before me on this one and everything has fallen into place beautifully.  For the past month I have been reading children's lit again and I am loving it. I am creating a program for the summer camp (which serves approximately 200 girls) in which every girl will experience life around the world  through books (this is in keeping with the summer camp's theme).  The first and second grades will be reading folktales from around the world (Koala Lou, Tikki Tikki Tembo...)and they will be doing crafts and keeping a journal.  Third grade will be traveling about with Jack and Annie and experiencing their adventures in the Magic Tree House books. The 4th graders are going to get to know the very strong character of Pippi Longstocking and maybe we will have Pippi day with pigtails and striped socks!! I found a really cool book, The Sixty-Eight Rooms which will take the 5th graders to the Chicago Art Institute to visit the magical Thorne Rooms.  For the 6th graders and beyond it is one of my all time faves...The Thief Lord, set in Venice, Italy.

I am excited about working with kids again...I am excited that both Chelsea and Katelyn have committed to volunteering with their mom!! I am praying that God uses this opportunity to do something wonderful for everyone involved!! I will be blogging about my adventures and if I get permission will include some pictures...

Keep me in your prayers...summer camp begins June 11th!!

December Books...Picture Books and All!

December picture books always takes me down the road to days gone by in my years of teaching.  The transformation of the classroom from Fall Fun to Christmas Magic was fast and furious...depending on the day of the week that the calendar changed.  If we were really lucky we would have a weekend to change our classrooms...but honestly some of my best memories are of Tuesday afternoon transformations. No matter the challenges of that day, the afternoon came alive... fueled by a giant Starbucks Peppermint Mocha (or 2) and lots of support from fellow teachers who were knee high in red and green bulletin board paper.  We were like a bunch of elves with only 5 hours "to get it done!"  The trees would go up...the paper chains would be hung...the Nativity sets for daily devotions placed...and then the picture books would come out.

I loved Christmas picture books...I mean...LOVED them.  The simple joy of getting them out and displaying them around the room and reading them aloud to the kids...indescribable!!!  As I moved through the grades teaching...I would leave behind books and probably a few of those were Christmas books...but I kept my fairly extensive personal Christmas library and no matter the grade I would put them out each year and yes, read them aloud...even to Eighth Graders (I had to do something to keep my sanity sometimes ;)!! 

Here are a few of the Christmas books that I have displayed around the house this year...

 This advent calendar has traveled all the way through my years at Holy Nativity! Each numbered book tells a little of the story of the birth of Christ.  I know that it will be a favorite with Claire (and all those other grand babies that will come along through the years)!

I have a well-used and much-loved collection of Christmas home decorating and cookbooks.  This one by Susan Branch was my grandmother's and so it has a special place in my heart and somewhere in the house every year!

Pop-up books...I love them!

One of our favorite family vacations was our trip to NYC and Vermont during Christmas break 2009.  We bought this pop-up book to commemorate our trip!

Mrs. Legg...she was my teaching mentor...a master with a pair of scissors...and a prayer warrior!  She gave me this copy of the classic Frosty the Snow Man...all of my HNES friends immediately recognize Leslie's handwriting, second only to her very unique midwestern voice!!

This book comes with high recommendations from Rich!

      This is one of my favorites...and I am rereading it this Christmas!

I am always on the lookout for beautiful and fun Christmas books to add to
                                                my collection...

You gotta love Olivia...can't wait to share these with Claire!

And this beautiful version of The Twelve Days of Christmas is this year's find

Whatever your Christmas season brings this year I hope you find time to enjoy reading...There are lots of choices...but I would start with this one...it is sure to bring joy into your day and peace into your heart!